


Trials

by onionstories



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: M/M, Multiple Timelines, multiple character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:14:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25269682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onionstories/pseuds/onionstories
Summary: There was a trial that day on Judgementia. So it was, and always will be.
Relationships: Almighty Tallest Purple/Almighty Tallest Red
Comments: 8
Kudos: 57





	Trials

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by [this](https://sadoeuphemist.tumblr.com/post/615521935528460288/a-scorpion-not-knowing-how-to-swim-asked-a-frog)

There was a trial that day on Judgementia. 

A boring thing, one that Red and Purple were forced to attend as a facet of their jobs. They watched as the accused stood, trembling in fear, as their memories were played for all to see, disgraceful acts of failure and deviance, acts that Red and Purple have become numb to, having seen them in hundreds of other trials before this. 

And of course they were found guilty, as they always were, and the poor thing thrashed in midair as the cable lifted them up, wiping their PAK of all that ever was, and tossing their useless body into the pit. 

So it was, and always will be.

Red and Purple thought nothing of it, and left.

* * *

...They watched as the accused stood, trembling in fear, as their memories were played for all to see, disgraceful acts of failure and deviance, acts that Red and Purple could never become numb to, no matter how many times they saw them, as they were simply too repulsive— this was not at all how any Irken should act; who in their right mind would think that something like  _ this  _ was okay? 

But, they supposed the accused wasn’t in their right mind, now were they?

* * *

...They watched as the accused stood, hurling obscenities at them, at the audience, at the Control Brains themselves, calling them  _ spineless conformists, intolerant pieces of shit, do you even know what you’re fighting against? Do you even know what’s so wrong about defectiveness? _

“Shut up!” Red yelled, and Purple threw his slushy at the accused— he missed, but it was the principle of the thing.

* * *

...And Purple threw his slushy at the accused, and landed a hit, and the crowd pointed and laughed, the jeers drowning out any and all questions directed against them. 

* * *

...They watched as the accused stood, hurling obscenities at them, at the audience, at the Control Brains themselves, calling them  _ spineless conformists, intolerant pieces of shit, do you even know what you’re fighting against? Do you even know what’s so wrong about defectiveness? _

And neither Red nor Purple had an answer. 

* * *

...Their memories were played for all to see, disgraceful acts of failure and deviance, acts that Red and Purple were already numb to, as in the relative safety of their personal chambers, when the Massive was at its quietest, they committed those very acts of deviance themselves.

* * *

“I can  _ do  _ something,” Red whispered with urgency, cupping Purple’s cheeks.

“And then what?” Purple’s voice was thick. “And then some other Tallest is gonna take your place, too? Everyone is gonna be mad that this happened to me, Red. You gotta stay to make sure something actually  _ changes  _ because of it.” 

“I don’t  _ care!  _ Just let me  _ do something!” _

“I can’t, Red…” Purple held the other close, in their last moment of privacy together. “This has to happen…” 

The doors opened, the guards filed in, and there was a trial on Judgementia, same as it was and always will be.

* * *

There was a trial that day on Judgementia. 

What would be a boring thing, something Red would laugh about with Purple later, in the privacy of their chambers, because one more trial meant one more useless defect being purged from the empire.

Red looked into the eyes of the accused, and bright purple eyes looked back at him.

And of course the accused was found guilty, as they always were, and Red had to force himself not to turn away as yet another body was tossed into the pit.

So it was, and always will be.

Purple thought nothing of anything, and Red would think of this until the day he died, as well.

* * *

...“I don’t  _ care!  _ Just let me  _ do something!” _

Purple was scared of dying, too, and Red’s hysterics crumbled what was left of his resolve.

“Fine—  _ fine.  _ Okay? Let’s get out of here.”

And they ran, they left, and there were no more trials in the futures of Former Tallests Red and Purple.

* * *

...“Let’s get out of here.”

And they ran, and they were caught, and there were two trials on Judgementia that day, one right after the other, and if the audience lifted their antennae in just the right way, they could hear Former Tallest Purple’s screaming from the cells, as another useless body was tossed into the pit.

* * *

...“Let’s get out of here.”

And they ran, and they were caught, and there were no trials on Judgementia that day, because Elite soldiers gunned them down, because the Empire had no mercy or judgement for defectives.

So it was, and always will be.

* * *

Tallest Purple was dead and the Empire was in shambles. 

It had taken cycles. Cycles upon cycles upon cycles, and Tallest Red was old and weak, once flawless skin marred and wrinkled, PAK constantly whirring to sustain his life just that little bit more. 

It had taken cycles upon cycles upon cycles, but finally Almighty Tallest Red, longest-lived Tallest in the history of the Irken Empire, made it so that there were no more trials on Judgementia, not that day and not any day after that.

The next morning, he was found dead in the chambers of the late Tallest Purple.

* * *

Tallest Purple was dead and the Empire was in shambles.

And despite cycles upon cycles upon cycles of work, Red could never make it so that there were no more trials on Judgementia. 

Almighty Tallest Red died mid-speech, angrily pleading with the Control Brains, when he’d collapsed, PAK unable to reactivate him.

It was chalked up to “extreme, intense emotional outbursts” destroying his PAK and his biological brain and his heart. 

_ Such defects contribute to early deaths, _ the Control Brains said.

_ So the trials will continue. As it was, and always will be. _

* * *

Tallest Purple was dead, and Red didn’t bother with bureaucracy— he stormed the Control Brains himself, attacking the entire planet of Judgementia with the force of the entire Massive, loyal pilots at his side. 

And there were no more trials on Judgementia, because there was no more Judgementia, and no more Control Brains to enact the trials.

* * *

...He stormed the Control Brains himself, attacking the entire planet of Judgementia with the force of a high-class Spittle Runner, as the Massive pilots had looked at him and went _“You’re crazy!”_ when he told them of his plan.

And there was no more Tallest Red, as one Spittle Runner was no match for a fleet of them, and the trials continued, same as it was, and always will be.

* * *

There was a trial that day on Judgementia.

For once, not a boring one, and not one mandated for Red and Purple to attend as part of their jobs. They watched as Zim stood, trembling in fear, as his memories were played for all to see, disgraceful acts of failure and deviance, acts that not even Red and Purple, who have seen countless other trials, have become numb to, due to their disgusting levels of utter defectiveness.

And of course he was found guilty, as the accused always was, and the poor thing thrashed in midair as the cable lifted him up, wiping his PAK of all that ever was, and tossing his useless body into the pit. 

So it was, and always will be.

Red and Purple thought  _ Oh Irk, finally,  _ and left.

* * *

...They watched as Zim stood, shouting that he was not a defective, that this was some sort of mistake, that the Tallest were liars, that the Control Brains were liars, that they were all liars and he should be allowed to leave  _ right now.  _

* * *

...They watched as Zim stood, crying so hard in the face of impending doom that he couldn’t even protest.

* * *

...And of course he was found guilty, as the accused always was, and the poor thing thrashed in midair as the cable lifted him up, wiping his PAK of all that ever was, and tossing his useless body into the pit. 

So it was, and always will be.

Red and Purple thought  _ Maybe this was a mistake,  _ but left anyway, as there was nothing else to be done about it.

* * *

...And he wasn’t found guilty, PAK so defective that he broke the Control Brains, and Red and Purple wept in sorrow because that was it, Zim was here to stay, and the Control Brains were gone and there would be no more trials.

* * *

...And he wasn’t found guilty, PAK so defective that he broke the Control Brains, and Red and Purple wept in joy because finally, _finally,_ there would be no more trials, and who would have ever thought that _Zim_ would be the one to bring about such a blessing onto them? 

* * *

There were no more trials on Judgementia, and the Empire continued as it was, defectives and non-defectives working in tandem, Invaders being trained and sent to other planets, planets being conquered and species being enslaved and other, less useful species being swept out of existence, and living spaces for the expanding Irken population created, and jobs for them being created.

And the Almighty Irken Empire was as prosperous as it always was, and always would be.

* * *

There were no more trials on Judgementia, and the Empire fell, as it deserves to, defectives rallying non-defectives behind their cause and poisoning it from the inside out, and as Tallest Red stared down the barrel of a rebel’s gun, his last thought was  _ “Huh, I guess the Control Brains were right.” _

* * *

...And as Tallest Red stared down the barrel of a rebel’s gun, his last thought was  _ “I guess this is for the best.” _

* * *

...And as Tallest Red stared down the barrel of a rebel’s gun, his last thought was  _ “I’m coming, Pur.” _

* * *

There were no more trials on Judgementia, and the Empire fell, as it deserves to, defectives rallying non-defectives behind their cause and poisoning it from the inside out, and as the Tallest both pointed guns at a  _ spineless conformist,  _ his last words to them were  _ “The Control Brains were right about you lot.” _

* * *

There were no more trials on Judgementia, and the Empire fell, as it deserves to, and Tallest Red and Purple thought nothing of it, as they thought nothing of anything anymore, where they both were now.

* * *

There was a pit of corpses on Judgementia, full of mangled, decomposing things. Of nobodies and somebodies and Shorters and Tallers, and of those that managed to not die on impact, still lifelessly propped up against the walls of the pit, forever clawing at the rocks in order to climb out.

* * *

...and of those that managed to not die on impact, long, lithe body still lifelessly propped up against the wall that belonged to the podium the Tallest stood on, mouth forever open in a message that went unheard.

* * *

...and of those that managed to not die on impact, forever lifelessly laying on the ground, small hands stained with blood and rocks, and if one were to look at the wall he’d fallen from, they would see that the tiny thing had made it far, farther than any other Irken in the pit, before his ten minutes were up and he lifelessly fell to the ground once more.

* * *

There was a pit of corpses on Judgementia, full of mangled, decomposing things. Of nobodies and somebodies and Shorters and Tallers, and when the body of Tallest Red was found, there was a note on it—  _ Put me with Pur, right there next to him. You know where he is. _

* * *

There was a pit of corpses on Judgementia, full of mangled, decomposing things, and per the request of the late Tallest Red, he was gently placed next to the mangled, decomposing corpse of the late Tallest Purple, intertwined together, as they were, and always will be.

* * *

There was a pit of corpses on Judgementia, full of mangled, decomposing things, and per the request of the late Tallest Red, he was placed next to the late Tallest Purple, but only after the body of the late Tallest Purple was retrieved, and they were both given a proper Irken funeral, an honor reserved only for the Tallest.

* * *

There was a pit of corpses on Judgementia, full of mangled, decomposing things, but there wasn’t anymore, as the New-New Tallest mandated that each and every one of them be given funerals, despite the height, to make up for the barbaric practice of trialing and executing based solely on PAK functionality, a process that she was far too young to remember.

* * *

There was a pit of corpses on Judgementia, full of mangled, decomposing things, but there wasn’t anymore, as the Defect Revolution retrieved them themselves, giving them each modest, yet earnest funerals, to make up for the barbaric practice of trialing and executing based solely on PAK functionality, a process that they all unfortunately still remembered.

* * *

There was a pit of corpses on Judgementia, full of mangled, decomposing things, but there wasn’t anymore, as every so often it needed to be cleaned.

* * *

“I love you,” Purple whispered, in the relative safety of their personal chambers.

“I love you, too,” Red whispered back, pressing his body against the other.

So it had been, and always will be.

* * *

“We can run away,” Purple whispered into one of Red’s antennae, as they hid under the covers.

“Where would we even  _ go?”  _ Red answered, although the very idea filled him with warmth.

“I dunno... Earth, maybe?”

It didn’t take Red long to decide. “Let’s go.”

* * *

...“I dunno... Earth, maybe?”

Red made a face. “And stay with  _ Zim?!  _ I’d rather get trialed.”

* * *

...“Where would we even  _ go?”  _ Red answered, although the very idea filled him with warmth.

“There’s a sanctuary. For defects. Outside of the Empire.”

It didn’t take Red long to decide. “Let’s go.”

* * *

...“Where would we even  _ go?”  _ Red answered, although the very idea filled him with warmth.

“A deserted planet, outside of the Empire. We can make it a sanctuary. For Irkens like us, y’know…?”

It didn’t take Red long to decide. “Let’s go.”

* * *

…“A sanctuary? By ourselves?” Red answered. “That sounds like a lot of work.”

“We can handle it, Red! It’s  _ worth  _ it.”

“...Oh alright,  _ fine.” _

* * *

...“That sounds like a lot of work.”

“...Yeah, you’re right.”

And two days later, Tallest Purple was executed.

* * *

...And two days later, Red changed his mind, and Purple did, too.

* * *

...And two days later, Red changed his mind, but Purple didn’t, so they were stuck.

* * *

...And two days later, nothing changed, and life continued on, same as it was, and always will be.

* * *

There was a trial that day on Judgementia. 

Tallest Miyuki looked at the sobbing little smeets, bright red and purple eyes barely able to look at her.

_ “What wasted potential,”  _ she thought as they were found guilty, as defectives always were, and the one with the purple eyes desperately reached for his friend, as his useless body was tossed into the pit first, followed by the useless body of the little purple one.

So it was, and always will be.

**Author's Note:**

> hope yall liked it. please ~~clap~~ comment
> 
> [tumblr](https://irkenheretic.tumblr.com)   
>  [twitter](https://twitter.com/irkenheretic)
> 
> heads up there be zadr


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